Process of separating the constituents of rocks.



G. S. A. APPELOVIST 81 E. 0. E. TYDEN.

PROCESSOF SEPARATING THE CONSTITUENTS 0F ROCKS.

APPupAnoN FILED 11111.25. 1911.

., Patented June 22, 1915.

GU'NNAR SIGGE ANDREAS arrnnovia'r Annnmnn OLOF'EUGEN TYDEN, or STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN.

PROCESS OF SEPARATING THE CONSTITUENTS 0F ROCKS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 22, 1915.

Application filed'll'anuary 25, 1911. Serial 0. 604.653.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, GUNNAR Srccn AN- DR'EAS Arrnmvls'r and EINAR OLor EUGEN Tyor'in, subjects of the King of Sweden, residing at Stockholm, in the Kingdom of Sweden, have invented new and useful Improvements in Processes of Separating the Constituents of Rocks, of which the following is a specification, reference being bad to the drawing accompanying and formnig a part hereof.

Attempts have been made to separate the constituents of rocks by treating the rock in a finely divided state with oils and thereupon immersing it in water or other liquid. Hereby one or more constituents of the rock rise to the water surface, while the other constituent or constituents sink to the bottom. In carrying the said process into ellect it has proved that the consumption of oils is comparatively great. as c mpared with the quantity of rock treated, so that the process will be comparatively expensive and, therefore,-has not been employed on a large scale.

The object of the invention is to remove the said drawback and make the process practical and economical.

The invention consists, chiefly, in treating the finely divided rock with oils, in a gaseous condition, by which the quantity of the substances employed for treating the rock may be considerably reduced.

The process may be used for separating all kinds of ores f n-n the gangue as well as for separating different ores and is adapted for working on a large scale in an economical manner.

In order to obtain an effective separation the treatment may be repeated one or several times with the same substances or with other-substances of the kind mentioned.

In. order to carry the process into effect any suitable apparatus may be employed.

Itis obvious that the receptacle in which the material is treated must be closed. Suitably, the receptacle is rotated during treatment so as to facilitate the contact between the particles of the material and the gas or gases used for treating same. By this treat- 50 ment very small particles of oils adhere to the particles of the rock or are absorbed by the same. The material thus treated is placed in a receptacle with water or other suitable liquid and stirred, whereby the different constituents of the rock separate from one another. Generally, none of the constituents rises to the surface of the liquid ,but they will form layers lying one above the ,other with well defined limits. The desired mineral may, therefore, be obtained by causing a current of water to flow through the receptacle and carry the said mineral with it. Thereupon the mineral is collected in any suitable manner.

In the drawing, we have shown diagrammatically an apparatus for carrying the said process into effect.

Referring to the drawing, the crushed rock to be treated is supplied from the hopper 1 into a drum 2 which is rotatably journaled and provided with a door or gate 3 through which therock is supplied and 2. On account of the rotary movement of the drum the particles of the rock are brought into intimate contact with the gas so that extremely small particles of oil ad-* here to one or more of the constituents of the rock. When the rock has thus been treated in the drum 2, it is caused to dropinto the hopper 9, where it is allowed to cool. Thereupon it is supplied to the drum 10 in which the treatment is repeated with the same substance as before or with another oil or fat in a gasified state. The drum 10 is arranged in the same manner as the drum 2 and like this communicates with a closed receptacle 11 in which the substance to be used for the treatment is gasified.

The described treatment may, obviously, be repeated more times with the same or other substances, if desired.

Finally, the rock is placed in a receptacle with water or other suitable liquid and stirred so that the different constituents of the rock are caused to separate.

We claim:

1. The process of separating the constitucuts of rocks by the aid of oils which consists in treating the material to be separated in the form of a powder in dry condition in the form of a powder in dry condition with oils gasified by the application of heat,

10 repeating at Will the said treating operation,

immersing the material thus treated into a liquid, agitating the mass, and allowing the difi'erent particles to separate from one another.

GUNNAR SIGGE ANDREAS APPELQVIST. EINAR OLOF EUGEN rum.

Witnesses AUG. SonENsEN, FRED. NORDSJO.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Eatentav Weshington,1).0." 

